


Welcome back!

by konfuse



Category: One Piece
Genre: Brook will stick with Luffy until the very end, East Blue, Franky and Iceburg are brothers, FrankyXRobin if you squint, Galley La, Gen, Grand Line, Humor, I added both Jinbe and Carrot as Strawhats, I know so far only one is canon, Iceburgs Secretary and Chimney are friends, Luffy is the pirate king, NamiXPaulie if you squint, Post canon, Water Seven, characters from the short story novel, hero adoration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:09:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28532697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/konfuse/pseuds/konfuse
Summary: The Strawhats have reached Laugh Tale and decided to revisit their homes and every island. Of course they also visit Water Seven.
Relationships: Franky & Iceburg (One Piece), Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates & Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates
Kudos: 17





	Welcome back!

**Author's Note:**

> I named Iceburgs new Secretary Ichigo-San because her number in the line was 153 - ichi go san

When it seemed like everything was done, there was still the question of the future, and while every Strawhat might have had an idea about what they wanted to do after they finally reached Laugh Tale, they never really thought about it until it was finally time to actually think about it.

And almost no one knew. 

Not everyone had reached their dream. 

Of course some of it was ‘easier’ to pursue than others. Usopp had become a ‘great warrior of the sea,’ which was more of a concept without clean rules, long before they had reached the final destination. Compared to that Nami would need to travel the Grand Line, the New World and the four seas again and again to finally finish the most accurate world map.

Either way, right now it didn‘t matter if they all had finished their dream or not. They had managed to land on the final island and Luffy was declared Pirate King. They had fulfilled his dream. 

So they had a party. They celebrated long and wild, with friends and former foes, until everything had calmed down and they all agreed it was time for a home leave. 

The Strawhats first returned to Foosha Village then Syrup Village, The Baratie, Cocoyashi, Shimotsuki Village, and then they visited Loguetown. On some islands they had to fight. On every single island they partied.

Once more they crossed the Red Line. There they met with Laboon and again it was time to celebrate because Brook had been able to fulfill his promise to his former crew and the whale. Even Crocus, who was still around, was happy to see the Strawhat Crew and Brook again. 

And so, Brook was the first who considered leaving the crew and staying there at the Cape. To stay with Laboon, and become Crocus’s successor when the old doctor eventually passed.   
It took Brook a few days to think about it but finally came to the decision that he would continue to travel with Luffy until his captain was no more or the crew was officially disbanded. Then he would return.   
Crocus felt comfortable with that and so the travel continued. 

They reached Drum Island, still covered in snow but with a hot party crowd, and they visited Alabasta where they may or may not have met a certain princess, now queen, and again may or may not have celebrated before they continued to Jaya and finally reached Water Seven.

—

"Nmaa, so how long will you stay?“  
"Already want me to leave again?“ Franky laughed, ignoring Iceburg‘s annoyed look.   
"Yes. But also, stay as long as you want. Don‘t forget to visit Kokoro to say goodbye,“ the older man rolled the blueprints up again, already regretting that he had shown them to Franky.  
"You don‘t want my help?! That is a super big mistake!“  
"I just don‘t appreciate some of your ideas. The city does not need giant cannons.“  
"But…“  
"No!“ It was almost like back in the day, when they would squabble about Franky‘s boats. One would think the man had learned. But considering that Franky had been a pirate these past years, his infatuation with weapons made- well, more sense. At least Iceburg tried to explain it to himself like that. Or maybe Franky was just still a nutcase.   
"Either you take this seriously or I don‘t want your help.“  
"Hey! I‘m taking this seriously! I just said…“  
"No gigantic cannons!“  
"You‘re still the same old joyless fart, Iceforbrains!“

Iceburg looked less than impressed towards the giant cyborg. Of course, some of Franky's notes made sense, like the ones about stability and buoyancy and it was good to let him redo the math for a second opinion. No matter how weird he looked, Franky still was one of the best shipwrights and engineers that Water Seven had ever produced. 

"So, when are you leaving again?“ No, Iceburg didn’t really want the Strawhats to leave again so soon, but it would help to know for planning reasons.  
When the crew had first arrived again in Water Seven, Iceburg had felt himself drawn into a big hug by the Strawhat boy and then Franky and then even by Nico Robin. Which had been a whole new level of weird. The rest only shook his hand, laughing.  
Then a party had been thrown that continued for three days. The mayor still felt tired from that, even though it had ended two days ago. As much as he was aware most of the Strawhats then did some sightseeing and shopping in the city. 

The only one bothering him now was Franky. Literally. Even his secretary, who was even more strict than Kalifa had been (nowadays Iceburg couldn‘t just skip work anymore if he felt like it), had asked for a couple of days off.   
For some reason the girl was really infatuated with Robin and the Strawhats and wanted to meet them. That was probably Chimney’s fault.   
So no one was here to make sure that Iceburg would adhere to meetings. If he had any. And that meant he was stuck with Franky.

"Really, no idea. Luffy hasn’t made up his mind yet,“ Franky shrugged. "When do you want to get started with your little project?“   
"In a couple more years. There is still a lot of planning to do as well as sending down people to find the best spots to detach the city from the island. I have to buy the right wood, gather enough floats...“  
"All right. I‘ll be back then.“ It had been clear to Franky as soon as he had first read about Iceburg‘s plans in a newspaper, a few years ago: he wanted to help with this project as he had helped with the sea train.   
"Okay,“ Iceburg shrugged, then halted. "Why?“  
"You can‘t do it alone, Iceforbrains!“ There was a huge smile on the Cyborg's face.  
"Yeah, like you would be of any help, Flunky!“  
"Yeah, whatever! What else do you have planned?“  
Iceburg sighed and grabbed another roll of paper.  
"This is another concept. I don‘t think it will be possible to really build a whole ship's body under the city so I have dabbled with other concepts…“  
"That is stupid!“  
The older man sighed. It would be another long day.

—

“And what is this place?”  
Robin stepped into a small shop, following the two girls. Chopper followed behind her, both Tyrannosaurus and Gonbe sitting on his back. The reindeer had sworn to not leave Robin's side as long as they stayed in Water Seven.   
“It’s a kiosk! A bookstore!” Chimney piped up, already racing towards the counter where a young woman sat, reading a magazine, who glanced up to greet the customers. Her short hair frizzing around her chin.   
“Welcome! Ah, Chimney! How can I help you today? There isn’t a new magazine with Franky in it… oh, who are your friends?”  
Chopper had already changed back in his brain point while Robin had also started to look through the various books and magazines, before she turned to nod at the clerk.   
“Those are Robin and Chopper! You of course know Ichigo-san, Tyrannosaurus and Gonbe!”   
“Of course…,” the woman frowned. Something about the looks of the two newcomers as well as the names rang a bell. “WAIT! You’re Nico Robin and Tony Tony Chopper! You’re part of the Strawhat crew!”   
Robin started to chuckle at the sudden display of awe. 

“You said something about magazines with Franky in them? What kind of magazines are those?” The archeologist walked up to the counter, smiling at the young woman.   
“Uhhhh… wait a moment!” The girl stood up, to walk to a corner and to grab a box filled with magazines and put them on the counter.   
“Those are the ones that were published while I worked here. Whenever Franky is in an issue the people of Water Seven are buying it like crazy. And I kind of understand. He’s really cool.”   
Again Robin chuckled, taking the issue of “Monthly Transforming Bastards Yeah”, to look it over. She remembered this, but she had never seen the complete issue.   
“Is it okay if I look into it?” She raised her eyebrows with a small smile towards the wide eyed clerk.   
“Of course! I can’t believe it! The Strawhats are here? Does that mean Franky is here too?”   
Robin just smirked while browsing through the magazine.   
“Yes, he is! The other Strawhats too! We’re meeting them later in Kiwi and Mozu’s bar! Do you want to join us?!” Chimney almost shouted in the girl's face.   
“Aren’t you too young to go into a bar?”   
“We’re teenagers. On some islands the legal drinking age is sixteen,” Ichigo-san piped up from somewhere in the background, sounding very serious.   
“What she said!” Chimney agreed.   
“Drinking alcohol at such a young age is still very dangerous. You both should be sure not to drink too much!” This time it was Chopper who joined the conversation.   
“Says the one who started to drink with us at the age of fifteen...”   
“ROBIN!” The doctor sounded very scandalized, while the archeologist started to laugh. She really liked the energy of this little group and she also enjoyed how much this girl was a fan of Franky. It would be interesting to see them interact.

— 

“You have to put some clothes on! This is outrageous!”  
Nami sighed, she wanted to ignore the voice of the Carpenter. He really should be used to this by now. Nami had stayed at the pool every day since they had arrived in Water Seven. It really was the best part of the Galley-La Headquarter. She kept her eyes closed under the sunglasses.   
“No one is forcing you to look.”   
“No one is forcing you to look so lewd and to distract the workers!” 

Not this again. They had this conversation every single goddamn day. Nami really hoped that they would continue their travels soon again. This was becoming more and more ridiculous.   
“Wearing a swimsuit at the pool is not lewd. If you think it’s inappropriate you have to check your own values. And maybe you should force your workers to work and not to leer over women who just want to relax,” to give her words more weight she turned towards the man, pulled down her glasses and raised her eyebrow.   
It worked because he flinched back. But he didn’t give up.   
“Why are you even using the company's pool? You’re not working here!”  
“But even though you are working here you are obviously not working! And neither are they!” 

Nami gestured to the bunch of carpenters who were peeking over the fence. Nami turned to them: “If you continue staring I’ll charge every single one of you 100.000 Beli.”  
That did the trick. They all vanished. Now she only had to get rid of the last one: “You’re welcome. I hope you are aware that it’s actually your job but you can pay me later.”   
“I won’t…!”   
“Don’t make me stand up, Paulie. You know you can’t handle that.” It almost made Nami laugh, when he finally booked it. Compared to all the other perverts she had to handle in her life that one was one of the easier to control. 

“Nami-chaaan!! We’re back!” Sanji walked into the area, new ingredients for the stew they wanted to prepare tonight. Brook was trailing him.   
“YOHOHOHO! Did you scare poor Paulie again? He looked shocked.”  
“He’s still a closeted pervert who tries to shame women with a healthy body image. So yeah, he can be happy I only scared him a bit.” With that, Nami leaned back and closed her eyes again. She still had some time before she needed to dress up for the bar and she could handle Sanji and Brook without much trouble. But also…   
“Hey! Did you lose Zoro?”   
“OH… FOR FU… that shitty mosshead!” 

—

Luffy really liked this city. There was always something good to eat and something interesting to find in the small channels. It was never boring. It seemed like every day there was a reason to party. And this time they weren’t attacked and they didn’t need a new ship since Sunny was still going strong. No one was arguing and no one was trying to kidnap his crewmates. He really enjoyed staying at the Galley-La headquarters and to explore the city together with Usopp and Carrot. But he figured they would need to go soon again. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe one day later. There was still a lot more adventure to have after all. As the pirate king, he needed to travel the seas after all. And their next stop would be Rayleigh's island and then Jinbe’s.   
He would tell them tomorrow. After they woke up again. Now it was time to party once more. They even set up a little stage for Brook in the bar of the sisters with the weird hair, and he could smell the delicious food that was waving over from the kitchen. More and more people were streaming into the small pup. Some even dragged Zoro in with them, after he had been lost earlier that day. Time to sneak up to Sanji for some food and then to really get the party started.   
Oh this would be so much fun! 

—

“So, Ichigo-san. Did you have fun today?” Robin sat down beside the girl that was sitting a bit at the side, probably overwhelmed by the amount of people and noise. She hadn’t been around for the first party, when they had arrived. Robin had wanted to talk to the girl and right now her friends were all busy, singing and eating and dancing and Franky was signing all the magazines for the young woman from the bookstore. He really had a lot of fans. 

“Uhm… yes!”   
“Do you enjoy working here?”  
The girl looked up at the woman beside her. Even though they had basically spent the whole day together they hadn’t really talked with each other. It had been Chimney who had done all the talking, working as a social catalyst. 

Ichigo had wished to meet Nico Robin after she first learned about her, feeling that they might have a lot in common, being kid-geniuses but then she had stood before the tall woman and forgotten everything. A woman like Nico Robin was just so imposing. Even with her nice smile and the warm laugh. She was a real role model. And now she was sitting here with her, asking her a simple question.   
“Ah… yes.”   
Robin chuckled a bit, it didn’t sound mean, before she sighed lightly: “I’m sorry if I make you uncomfortable. I’ll leave you alone if you want to.” With that the archeologist stood up.  
“No! It’s fine! Don’t leave!”  
Robin turned to look at the girl with a smile planted on her face. Immediately the girl froze again, unsure about what she should talk.  
  
Robin sat down again and hummed a bit before she took the initiative again: “So, tell me about what you are doing as Iceburg-sans secretary.”   
“Uh… okay most of the time I’m making appointments for him, that I need to constantly remind him to keep. I heard that the woman who had been his secretary before me often just cancelled them. But that is not acceptable. Because he has all these duties and then I figured that he can’t do all alone so he has to work more a major and now Mister Paulie is in charge of Galley-La but he has no secretary and I help him with his appointments too. It is a lot of work. But it’s fun to learn so much about shipbuilding. I’m not good with the tools but the mathematical side is fascinating. And…” she halted. Once more aware WHO was sitting there beside her. But maybe that was the reason why she should show it to THE Nico Robin. Because the woman was still listening with interested eyes and an inviting smile. Yes, she would be interested and appreciate it. “... and there is this little side project that I’m working on.” 

Ichigo turned to get her bag and pulled out a folder and a notebook to give both Robin.   
The archeologist put down her glass and received the documents. With fast fingers and even faster eyes, Robin skimmed through the notes and papers. Then she chuckled.   
“That is amazing. How did you get so much information about the Oro Jackson?”  
“So, Chimney showed me the old Tom-Workers factory and I found these old notebooks that Mister Iceburg and Mister Franky may have overlooked? And there were some old blueprints! I started to look for more and found some more notes in all kinds of different books and I put them all together in this one. And I tried to reconstruct them? But then… I started to look into other famous ships and… started to look for more information about them too… but the most famous is still the Oro Jackson.”   
“That is really impressive. Well done. Do you think I could get a copy of this?”   
When the words registered in Ichigo’s mind, she first stared and then excitedly jumped up. Nico Robin just had complimented her work!   
“OF COURSE! I’ll do it immediately!”  
Robin started to laugh out loud. The combination of Ichigo-san shouting and the laughter caused some of the other guests to look over.   
“I think it’s enough if you do it tomorrow. I’ll gladly help too.”  
“Wow,” the girl sat down again and then looked up at the famous scholar beside her. 

—

„You really think that will be possible, Nmaa?“  
„Sure! I think it will be the easiest way. I mean you could build multiple Submarines but a bunch of well experienced and trained fishmen would be even better. I‘ve met Den, Tom‘s brother, years ago and they know their craft.“   
Jinbe stood beside Franky, nodding in agreement. „I‘m sure with the correct negotiation skills it will be possible to have a conversation about a carpenter exchange program.“  
„I‘m always willing to give it a try,“ Iceburg thought about it a bit more. Maybe that really was the best way.   
“Okay then we only have to discuss the provision. I’d say 50.000 Beli for every exchange…”   
Everyone in the room turned and stared at the Strawhats navigator.   
“What?! We’re not a charity! We’re the Pirate Kings crew!”   
Luffy started to laugh about that while the rest still stared: “Yeah, I don’t care.”   
Nami rolled her eyes and huffed: “Okay, we’ll see about that. Jinbe, I think it would be best if you, the major, and I write a letter for king Neptune.”

—

They left the next day with at least as many tears as last time but with less flashing, less crushing of the family jewels, and no need to run from the Marines.   
So, this time Franky could watch his hometown grow slowly smaller as they sailed away.   
“Don’t get homesick now, Franky.”   
A big grin appeared on his face and then he glanced over to Robin, who was skipping through a book, but a small smile visible on her lips.   
“I won’t. This ship is our home after all, right?”  
“It sure is,” she turned to grin up to him too. “Anyway, Ichigo-san gave me this book and I want to ask your opinion on it.”  
“Okay,” he glanced once more to the horizon, the top of the city vanishing. Onto new adventures. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Water Seven Zine, a charity zine that had been available until the 31st of december. since now it's not available anymore we are allowed to post our works. The zine was a lot of fun. Keep your eyes open to find the rest of the works. Maybe.  
> The girls in the bookstore/kiosk is from Frankys short story from the novel. She never got a name but became a fan of Franky. Also there should be more stories about Chimney and the Secretary - that really needs a name - and their friendship.  
> I also tried to keep the shipping to a minimum and I hope that worked. 
> 
> A huge thanks to everyone who downloaded the zine and donated. And a huge thanks to everyone who will read this little fanfiction (that was one of the longest in the whole zine lol)


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